Just a little update

I picked up my dress and shoes today.  Thought I’d share a few detail shots with you.

Isn’t she beautiful?  She’s currently residing in a canvas bag in Kinsley’s closet.  I figured that was the last place Matt would think to look.  And least tempting.  Although he’s pretty adamant about not seeing me or the dress before the wedding.

My indecisiveness will be the death of me

I don’t want to give away too much, because I would really like to surprise our guest with our invitations.  But I have to share these fabulous invitations.  I’m not sure where I got the idea that a booklet invitation would be a good idea.  I’ve been in love with pocket fold for a long long time, they are just so much work.  And although Cards and Pockets has the color paper I want need, I just can’t plunk down $1.40 per invite just for the folder. I also thought about making them myself, but for some reason, I was really stuck in this 6×6 thing, and desperately wanted metallic paper.  Please don’t ask why I want metallic paper.  I do not understand my need for metallic paper at all.  But I need it.  Anyway, I decided that I’d taken on enough projects for the wedding and did not need the hassle of constructing 175 pocket folds.

I had pretty much given up on the pocket fold and moved on to other ventures.  The most current plan with basically a folded 6×6, which I intended to stamp the front of with our peony stamps and then put the enclosures inside and hold it all closed with a nice green ribbon.

The more I sat on this idea, the less I liked it.  Truth be told, I really need to go ahead and get the things printed so I will stop changing my mind about what I want.  Although, I will say this, the designs have gotten more and more simplistic as time goes on.

I’m hoping we have finally made a final decision on the invitation front though.

I was browsing wedding goodness on Etsy, which someone else (can’t remember who) referred to as their “dealer” earlier today.  I completely agree… Etsy is so my dealer.  I don’t buy very often, but I browse daily.  Can you window shop for crack?  Anyway, I was browsing Etsy and saw these booklet style programs and though, hey, here’s an idea.  Why not put the invitation into booklet style and keep everything nice and tidy, without having to create a pocket fold?  What a genius plan.  I hit google and the first thing that came up were these beauties.

(They are Cambridge, from Libra Designs)

Aren’t they gorgeous?  I loved them so much, I was pretty much done.  Matt even liked them.  Not just like, but I think he’s honestly happy with these.  He says they remind him of olde time-y flight booklets, with the tickets and everything tucked in them.  I tried to order a sample, just to have something to touch and feel (I’m very much a visual, tactile kinda girl) and discovered something a bit depressing.  They only ship to Europe.  For about 4.5 seconds I considered ordering a sample and having it shipped to my uncle in Kent and then he could ship it to me, but I decided that was too much trouble, and I would figure it out on my own.

And of course I had to run over and see what the Hive had to say.  And the Hive has yet to let me down.

These are Mrs. Lime’s.  They are a little more modern than what Matt and I are going for.  He’s so traditional, and honestly, the classic-ness of those above appeal to me much more than did Mrs. Lime’s.  But they are still gorgeous and a definite inspiration.

(link)

Pretty aren’t they?  I like her vellum overlay.  But my favorite part is her RSVP postcard.

It’s perforated and pre-stamped, so all the guest has to do is fill it out, tear it out, and drop it in the mail.  Genius.

I’m thoroughly excited about my invitations.  I can’t wait to get started on them.  But we are still working on getting a few things ironed out and nailed down.  Like our reception venue, which Matthew has moved.  And we haven’t secured accomodations information for the OOT-ers yet.  But as soon as those tasks are done with, these babies are getting put to press!

Themed..veils..?

I’m not really a veil kinda person.  Actually, the problem is I really hate things on my head.  Although, it is getting better.  I wear hats when we go reenacting, and I wore a baseball cap to an Auburn game earlier in the season.  But nevertheless, I’m still not real keen on wearing a veil.

But, I have to say that these are super cute.

The polka dots are so vintage, I love them.

I was originally a pear bride.  Our colors were pear green and burgundy.  I was actually going to knit pears for the centerpieces.  I might have worn this veil.  But it would be perfect for this girl I saw on “who’s wedding is it anyway?” a few days ago who had pears everywhere.

I love butterflies.  I have two butterfly tattoos (although one of them is dwarfed by my enormous side piece).  This is such a cute veil.

And, who doesn’t love the mantilla?  It’s so classic and gorgeous.

All available at HoneyComb Veils on Etsy.

Coaster Favor Designs

When Matt and I first started planning our wedding, I was really undecided about the favors.  I just couldn’t see spending $2-$5 dollars per guest to send them home with some silly trinket they probably wouldn’t use.  I know that personally, I would probably hang on to some personalized frame or something for a year or so, and then it would find it’s way over to GoodWill and I would feel guilty for ages for throwing it out, but I just can’t stand to stock pile stuff.  I’m not that sentimental.  So, I knew that if I were going to have favors, they would have to be either edible (which is also expensive, if not homemade) or disposable.

We thought about making peach preserves.  After all, we are Georgians, and proud of it.  Peach season is in the late spring, early summer.  By the time I had thought of peach preserves, the season was almost over.  And if I waited until next season, I would have to be making peach preserves right up until the big day.  With 300 people on our guest list, that was a lot of peach preserves.  So, I pretty much decided peaches were not going to be my friends and moved on to something else.

I went over to WeddingBee and checked the archives for favors.  Those girls are so creative.  I thought I might be able to find something that was do-able.

And I did.  I found Mrs. Penguin’s gocco’d coasters.

I really loved these.  Totally personalized without being in your face about it.  Cheap and disposable.  Perfect.  So I did some research and found her source at American Coaster.  I decided I liked the square ones better and ordered myself a case (1020 ct.) for $17 + shipping.

I love how neat and orderly they are in their box.

Since I don’t have a gocco, and can’t really justify the purchase because I know I won’t use it after the wedding, I decided stamping them would be best for me.  I had already purchased peony stamps from Impress Rubber Stamps.

and

The large peony is quite a bit smaller than the coaster itself.

It took me awhile to find an ink color I liked.  I finally ended up ordering Fresh Ink in sugar from Impress.

So here is what I came up with. Pay attention now, there’s a quiz at the end!

#1

ok, yeah, I hand drew our monogram on there.  Blech I know, but I will have to go back and order another stamp if I decide to use this design.

Either this

or this

I also painted that one with this glitter infused stuff.  I don’t like it.

#2

That black there can’t be embossed, I think it must be dye based ink instead of pigment based.

#3

I really like this one.

#4

This is Matt’s favorite.

#5

Neither of us particularly care for this one.  It’s just too busy.  But since it was what I originally had in mind, I stuck in on here anyway.

I haven’t really decided whether or not I’ll emboss them.

They will be packaged up in green ribbon and I will probably end up putting a card on there with a big thanks on it and directions on how to upload to our flickr account.

Here’s the part where you come in.  We need help deciding on which design to use, which monogram, and whether or not to emboss.  Please help!!

Bling

I’ve been at home sick today (some kind of 24 hour thing, I’m ok now) and looking at wedding jewelry on Etsy.  I’m still kinda up in the air about jewelry.  I don’t think I want a necklace because the bodice of my dress is so elaborate.  But I definitely want earrings.

Here’s some of my favorites from Etsy.

Vintage find from BelCanto

Enchanted in gold from LuxDeluxe, which is currently residing at the top of my list.

Cherish from LuxDeluxe, also at the top of my list.

Lotus from LuxDeluxe.

Vintage Button earrings from WiredVintage.

Mariee Earrings from JLeeOhioDesigns.  If those aren’t the most gorgeous earrings ever!!

Forever from TeleeCouture.

So, my dress is gold, and my engagement ring is white gold (my wedding band will also be white gold).  Should I wear gold or silver jewelry?  Or should I try to mix it up a little?

Back to the center

Pieces that is.  I am so tired of centerpieces I could throw up.  It’s been days.  All I can think about are centerpieces.  We have looked at about 600 different options.

Here’s some background.  Just in case you are new to our blog.  I had to have peonies.  We are on a very strict budget.  So, when I happened upon 80 silk peony stems at my local Pier 1 on clearance, I snatched them up.  I sacrificed picking up my dress when it arrived and a new dining room table for those peonies.

The trouble with them is the stems.  They are awful.  Very plastic looking.  Must be hidden.  So… we’ve been looking for some kinda vase to hide the nasty plastic stems.  My first thought is milk glass.

I love love love milk glass.  It’s so elegant and old fashioned.  It’s also very expensive.  Most of it is antique.  There are a few people who stil make it.  I just can’t afford it.

Jamali Garden has a few options too.

Colored glass

I love that black urn.  It’s so bloody expensive.

That’s cute too.  And bloody freaking expensive.  Ain’t gonna happen.  Colored glass is ridiculously expensive.

How about ceramic?

These are much more reasonably priced.  Especially the bud vase.  But I kept looking.  Ceramic seems a little heavy for a wedding.

I really loved this

Thank you SMP!  I love that pink glass.  I think Matt might throw up if I suggested we use pink glass under my pink flowers.  Yeah, plus, I didn’t have much luck hunting down any fabulous pink vases.

Matt really liked this look

But wanted to mix the above color, with green and white.  All in the same vase.  I’m not liking that plan.  Not at all.

I also liked

But Matt hated it.

Both of those vase fillers are available at save on crafts.

I wish we had more similar tastes.

I found these Water Pearls on inkypink.com

Matt actually liked these.  I was surprised because they were pink.  And they don’t come in any other suitable color for our wedding.  Not nearly as expensive.  I don’t think.

And I still love this look

from Mrs. Lemon.  This is gorgeous!!

I just want to steal it.

So I basically want to merge the single floral arrangement with this look from Mrs. Lemon.

That is a ton of glass.  Argh… weddings are expensive.

So I was getting frustrated.

And then something came across my google reader about how to paint your vases.

I almost jumped up and down.

And I had bookmarked a tutorial on how to make wax luminaries

out of water balloons!!  Aren’t those cute!!

So, at this point,

This vase, available at Save on Crafts for a mere $1.49 each, will be painted white to simulate milk glass.

Then I will probably buy some cheapo glasses from Wal-Mart or some such place ($10 for 12) and fill them with candles.

And I will definitely be making those adorable wax luminaries too.  Hopefully they won’t melt.

I think I will also buy some of this taffeta to make some sort of table runner, so that in case my lovely luminaries melt, I won’t ruin our caterer’s linen’s.

I ordered a sample to make sure the color is suitable.

I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Let’s talk Cake

With less than 250 days to go, I’m started to feel the cruch.  The projects are piling up and I’m ready to hire out anything I can.

This week I’m focused on our cake.

Both Matt and I have a very, very bad sweet tooth.  His weakness is ice cream.  Mine is anything full of sugar.

Unfortunately for Matt, he’s a diabetic.

Let me just say that we should buy stock in Splenda.  We buy all kinds of sugar free cookies, ice cream, deserts.  If it comes sugar free, we’ve tried it.  (by the way, sugar free oreos are not as good as the original.)

So cake is kind of a sensitive area with us.

This was our initial cake inspiration

I still like this cake.  But it doesn’t really work for me anymore.  Mostly because I found out how much wedding cake actually costs.  And I almost died.

I also discovered that certain bakeries make all cakes over 2 layers out of pound cake.  Folks, I don’t really care for pound cake.  And if I’m spending an unGodly amount of money on cake, I’m having cake that tastes good.  I prefer red velvet.  Momma says all chocolate.  Matthew wants a variety.

So the cupcake thing has always intrigued me.  And while it seems a little bit casual for an evening reception, I think it can be elegant if done correctly.

Not elegant at all.

Yes for elegance!!

A little too metallic for my taste.

How cute are those in their little milk glass glasses!  Too bad that would cost about a million dollars.  I love milk glass.

These are also super cute!

also super cute.

I can’t remember where i got this picture, but how cool would it be to have little peony cupcakes?  Also, it would probably cost…a fortune.

Realistically, these are my favorite.  I think I’d have the little beads gold instead of silver.  But yeah, these are the ones baby.

Now, does anyone have a good idea on how to display these cuties?

If I hadn’t already bought mine

I would totally wear a pink wedding dress.

This is from Carolina Herrera, via Martha Stewart.  I especially love the peony-esque flower on the bodice.

Also from Carolina Herrera.  Also via Martha Stewart.

Here’s one from Alfred Angelo.  Style number 1607

This is Maggie Sottero’s Amour Bouquet.

Maggie Sottero’s Geneva

From Dere Kiang, via the knot

From Anjolique Bridal via the knot

From Sottero & Midgley, definitely my style! photo via the knot.

Does anyone else wish they’d waited to buy their gown?

Another project…yay

So, can you sense the excitement in my tone?

I thought I had escaped seating plans and escort cards and all that jazz by making our reception a hors d’heuvers buffet.

I was wrong.

Monday, we finalized the menu for the rehearsal dinner.  The caterer says I have to do seating cards so that the waiters will know which plate to give our guests.

Please scoop out my eyes with a dull spoon.

Seriously.

Ok, so Matt has agreed to let me have a subtle bird theme.  I’ve already designed the invitations and rsvp inserts.  I’m also going to put a menu card into each invitation so that my guests aren’t picking a random meal.

They will be printed on ivory card stock.  Do you think the bird on the rsvp needs to be bigger?

The linens are ivory table clothes with black napkins.  I want black bud vases with a single bloom for centerpieces and I’m planning on making a bird for each table from black wool leftover from my civil war cloak and ivory dipioni silk.

I think I’ll do basic table numbers that correspond with the invitations.

With those decisions made, I set out to get some ideas on how to get our guests to their assigned seat.

I love love love this idea from Weddingbee’s Mrs. Corn.

The mini envelopes (I love all things mini) combined with the stamping action!!  Awesome.  However, I’m not sure I desire to have to set this up.  Or require my caterer to do it.  He’s already been so awesome to us.

The escort card tree (shown here from Mrs. Pineapple) is an interesting idea, but I have this vision of people hunting for their names.  Yuck.

This is a cute idea, courtesy of the Knot.  It’s wrapping paper with slits cut in it.  I could pre-make this and drop it off with the caterer day of.

Also courtesy of the Knot, I like the idea of using pins.

This is a cute idea, courtesy Mrs. Bell Pepper.  I would have to figure out how to make birds instead of flowers.

I also love love love these shipping tags.  They are so cute and rustic.  I’m just not sure how to display them.

I’m definitely going to have to do some more thinking on this one.

Fantasy Wedding Dress

In my fantasy wedding, I would totally wear this dress

Crepe Mimi T-shirt gown from J. Crew